if by chance | ✓

25 | association

[ 25 ]

R H Y S

✦

"My neck hurts so bad" Riley mutters, kicking her sneaker clad feet on the linoleum floor. She looked as frustrated as the rest of us, but this was the first time in the past one hour and nine minutes that she had mouthed a complaint so I'd say she had better durability against stress compared to us.

To my left, Coraline lets out a tired sigh. Four of us ─ Riley, Luna, Coraline and myself ─ have been sitting like rocks on the steel armchairs lined on either side in front of the Operation Theatre ─ the red light looming eerily on top and reminding us every second that Eugene's surgery was still in progress.

In the past thirty minutes, we've had calls from the Morrisons about five times, Nathaniel four and Noah two. We'd repeat the same rehearsed report that the nurses updated us on every once in a while as they came out with dead serious faces under surgical masks and carried blood or other instruments in and out of the OT.

"What is taking them so long?" Luna groans, referring to Acacia who had offered to accompany Eugene's grandmother to the hospital, since the old lady clearly wasn't in a mental state to come here all by herself. Although it had taken me by surprise for some moments because Acacia didn't have any history of friendship with Eugene, nor have I ever seen them interact but I brush the thought aside, figuring their association must have been on grounds of being in the same friend group.

"Maybe there's traffic, it's a busy metropolis" Coraline snaps, getting up from her chair and stretching her legs. Luna feigns surprise, raising both her eyebrows in response.

"Whoa, someone's talking back ─ seems like my words hit you right here" She mocks, pointing to Coraline's heart. My date from earlier this day rolls her eyes dramatically.

"Please, Luna, we'd have plenty time to fight after this is over. Can we just maintain the silence ─"

"Wait wait wait, you think I'm tryna fight with you? Really, Eastwood?" The redhead crosses her arms in front of her chest, ready for combat. I exchange a glance with Riley, signalling her to tell her girlfriend to calm the fuck down. If Luna Flynn listened to anyone in this planet, it was her girlfriend.

Coraline opens her mouth again to spit her comeback but luckily enough, Riley grabs her arm, lilac painted nails digging into her bare skin.

"Anyway, you're coming with me to the washroom. My bladder feels like it would burst any moment" She exclaims and Luna shoots her a waried look before walking over to the coffee machine. I clear my throat in an attempt to lighten the mood but Riley and Cora trudge off sooner than I had expected and I end up burying my face in the palm of my hands for the umpteenth time.

I hadn't kept a count of exactly how many times I had visited the London General Hospital but at this point, I could tell you with certainty that I hated it. I hated the impending silence that hung over the air, the smell of disinfectants that made me sick in the stomach, the way everyone ─ the people in the mint green scrubs and the staff in white and blue uniforms ─ acted like this wasn't a hospital but a graveyard.